Ultimarc vs. Happ is it worth it ?

[jtslade]

Ultimarc has a deal with a complete wiring harness and a mini-pac encoder.

http://www.ultimarc.com/minipac.html


I can also buy the push buttons from them and the Mag stick plus that can switch from 4-8 way without opening the control panel lid.

mag stick plus
http://www.ultimarc.com/controls.html


one box shipped.

or will I wish I had got Happ pushbuttons. I'm ok with separate orders being more expensive if the quality of the Happ is a world of difference.

Just if anyone has thoughts on the matter for a MVS Neo Geo restore

Thank you!!!

[Ginsu Victim]

or will I wish I had got Happ pushbuttons.

The pushbuttons from Ultimarc are IL, so they pretty much ARE Happ (better than current Happ, actually).

If you're doing a MVS Neo Geo restore, I don't see the need for a Minipac, unless it's also going to be MAME.

If it's JUST an MVS, you need a jamma harness, not a Minipac.

[Necro]

Agreed, I think the Minipac is overkill unless your hooking up spinners, etc. to it as well, eliminating the harness setup.

[ark_ader]

Happ all the way. 

[Jakobud]

Go with Ultimarc for whatever you can.  Get one of his encoders and his joysticks are much more innovative than Happ.  The Pushbuttons I can't speak for personally but I'm willing to bet they are almost exactly the same (if not exactly the same) as the Happ ones.

[AndyWarne]

Our pushbuttons come from the same manufacturing source (IL) as Happ have purchased from in the past. I am not sure if they still do though. Since Happ bought out Chinatec, they have outsourced as much manufacturing as possible to China and I would suspect they are made there now but dont know this for sure.
The switches we supply with our Happ-type pushbuttons are Cherry which are marked Happ Controls and are sourced from Suzo-Happ. Actually the pushbuttons themselves are also sourced from Suzo-Happ but we specify that they must be original IL manufacture rather than Happ manufacture because the IL ones are the best quality. They arrive to us in IL sealed boxes.
We get them via Suzo-Happ as they are 10 minutes drive away whereas IL are in Spain (but a good excuse to visit Barcelona hehe)

[jtslade]

Thank you for you input guys, it helps to have all of this info from many different sources.

I forgot to mention in the original post that it is a MAME machine. This will stay on the outside an almost exact restore of a MVS neo Geo. Same button layout.

[Bluedeath]

As fanatic of the happ supers I'm sorry to say that the quality of the last specimens (that are NOT marked IL anymore, at least not the ones that i received)  that i bought is slightly lower than the previous ones, especially that dust cover washer is is thin and made of poor quality plastic but the worse thing, can be fitted under the panel only (the old one instead was thicker and had a nice textured surface that was ideal for using it over the panel),  the quality control seems more "forgiving" than the older ones, they still feel reliable anyhow and the switches are still cherry ones ( I prefer matsushita so i will chage them anyway).

My suggestion is to buy everything from the same vendor if you can, it will save you a lot of trouble.   

[vputz]

I did my CP with all-Ultimarc parts, mini-pac, buttons, T-stik plus (I think--the "pull up and rotate" to go between 8-way and 4-way).  Only non-Ultimarc part was the Happ trackball (the Golden Tee one, wotever that was).

Fantastic results.  Only regret is that the U360s came out not long after and I understand they don't quite have the same mounting or I'd probably replace 'em.

[Ummon]

Fantastic results.  Only regret is that the U360s came out not long after and I understand they don't quite have the same mounting or I'd probably replace 'em.

Perhaps a little bit of wood putty, a couple hours maybe, and then tap some new holes and screw in. I had to do that recently, no biggie.

[vputz]

O SO TEMPTING!

May actually do that... my wife is leaving for a few weeks and may not notice... (heh).

I don't actually know how different the mounting is; Andy doesn't have the old T-stik diagrams up.  Same as the J-stik or Mag-stik? 

(and I never heard how well the mapping thing worked under Linux...)

[AndyWarne]

The T-Stik mounting is the same as Mag-Stik.

The U360s have dual mounting holes, the same as the Mag-Stik plus the wider pattern used on Happ sticks. The plate is wider.

Andy

[Ummon]

The T-Stik mounting is the same as Mag-Stik.

The U360s have dual mounting holes, the same as the Mag-Stik plus the wider pattern used on Happ sticks. The plate is wider.

Andy

That's what I thought, noticing the holes, but didn't know for sure.